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Just another WordPress siteThu, 07 Nov 2013 21:36:48 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1The Strange Saga of Eric ‘Butterbean’ Eschhttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-strange-saga-of-eric-butterbean-esch-277/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-strange-saga-of-eric-butterbean-esch-277/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000Mike Chiappettahttp://www.fightmagazine.comHe’d already been all over the globe, made a small fortune, and become a world-famous one-name wonder before the sport of mixed martial arts came calling. And he isn’t shy about admitting that he answered for one reason: money. But somewhere along the way, the man known by millions around the world as “Butterbean” gained [...]

]]>He’d already been all over the globe, made a small fortune, and become a world-famous one-name wonder before the sport of mixed martial arts came calling. And he isn’t shy about admitting that he answered for one reason: money. But somewhere along the way, the man known by millions around the world as “Butterbean” gained a new respect for the sport that many in the boxing world view as the archenemy.

“MMA is such a diffi cult thing,” he says. “A lot of people who don’t watch don’t understand that’s it’s a mixture of sports: boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, karate, etc. And if you don’t know at least three or four of those disciplines, you’re in trouble. When I fought Genki [Sudo, in his fi rst MMA match], I realized that.”

Esch transitioned from boxing into kickboxing. Eventually, he was approached by the promoters of K-1 Premium Dynamite!, a 2003 New Year’s Eve show held in Japan that featured both kickboxing and mixed martial arts matches. Even though he’d never done any sort of groundwork or grappling, he didn’t hesitate to take the bout.

“At my size, when you’re offered a lot of money to fi ght a 180-pounder, you’ve gotta do it,” he says. Sudo, who actually competed in the 155-pound division — thus giving up over 200 pounds to his opponent — submitted Butterbean via heel hook in the second round. But a funny thing happened to the Alabama native on his way back to the United States. “Even though the weight difference was phenomenal, [Sudo] had the skills to be dangerous.

That, along with me being able to last into the second round, kind of hooked me on the sport,” he says.

Few athletes have combined the elements of contemporary American pop culture as completely as Eric Esch. He’s had his share of controversy, criticized as a novelty act and embroiled in allegations of match fi xing. He had a diffi cult childhood, losing his mother when he was just eight years old. He was the fat kid everyone picked on. He worked a blue-collar job. And on a dare, he ended up capturing the nation’s imagination in a contest he managed to catch at the height of its popularity.

The fi rst step to fame and fortune isn’t always a logical one. Some people write a book, or make a record, or these days, post videos of themselves on YouTube, like Kimbo Slice. Some people merely walk through the front door of their blue-collar job.

The world might never have heard of Butterbean if it hadn’t have been for his time at the Southern Energy Homes plant in Addison, Alabama. The then- 420-pound Esch worked a full-time job decking fl oors for manufactured homes. His colleagues dared him to enter a local Toughman contest, which required him to lose twenty pounds to meet the competition’s weight limit.

“My buddies at the plant paid the entry fee, and it wasn’t refundable, so I had to lose the weight,” he says. “The promoters said, ‘you can back out or you can miss making weight, but you ain’t getting your money back.’” Esch made weight. Just a few seconds into his fi rst match, the friends that staked his entry fee, unwittingly sending him on his fi rst step to fame, began chanting the key ingredient in his diet.

“Butter-bean! Butter-bean!” The rest of the crowd, thinking it was his nickname, followed suit. There was only one problem: Esch hated the butterbeans he’d forced himself to eat. “My friends knew they were pissing me off by bringing up the butterbeans, and that would only make me angry and make me take it out on my opponent,” he says. “And so I knocked him out, and became Butterbean in the process.”

Butterbean would go on to win the tournament, and within the course of just a few months, he would win the Toughman world title in a bout broadcast on Showtime pay-per-view. With a big right hand that became one of boxing’s biggest highlight producers, and an oversized personality to go along with his unique nickname and bluecollar persona, it wouldn’t take long for pro promoters to come knocking.

“I didn’t realize I was that good,” he recalls. “I just had a great time. Heck, I could knock people out and not go to jail.” He eventually signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotion. And that was where the next happy coincidence of his career happened.

In his fi rst fi ght with Top Rank, like many young boxers at the beginning of their pro careers, he was scheduled for a short six-round fi ght, but because of television time restrictions, the swing bout was changed to a four-rounder. The fi ght ended in an early KO. The next time out, the same scenario unfolded, and Butterbean again ended the proceedings with a fi rst-round KO. It was then that Arum decided his talents were best used in short, explosive fi ghts. And Butterbean, “King of the Four-Rounders” was born.

“I was getting paid the same for doing less work, so I loved it,” he says with a laugh. “And it made for a better, more exciting fi ght for the fans, because when you don’t have to worry about going deep into a fi ght, you don’t have to worry about conserving energy. You can be really aggressive.”

Within a few bouts, he would become one of the most famous fi ghters in the world. Soon, his highlights were appearing on sports programs around the country, and after a fi ght in which he accidentally knocked the referee out cold, he became a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In April 1997, on the undercard of an Oscar De La Hoya/Pernell Whitaker match, he knocked out Ed White to become the IBA Super Heavyweight champion. He would go on to fi ght 88 pro matches, most famously going the distance in a decision loss to ex-heavyweight champ and Boxing Hall of Famer Larry Holmes in July 2002.

While some criticized him as a novelty act, and an investigation into Top Rank alleged that the organization might have paid his opponents to throw matches (a contention that was never proved), Butterbean makes no apologies for his boxing career.

“I was in damn good company in that investigation,” he says. “They had George Foreman’s name on it, and other big-name fi ghters, too. In my opinion, Top Rank never rigged fi ghts. But did they overmatch fi ghts? Yes. Many times. They do it in MMA and every sport.”

In the meantime, he’d gained a new level of pop culture fame when he infamously knocked out Johnny Knoxville in a skit called Department Store Boxing for Jackass: The Movie. “I had a great time doing that,” he says with a laugh. “You know, when I signed, I thought it was a real, scripted, movie. I knew nothing about Jackass and what they did. So when I got there, they said, ‘We really want you to knock him out.’ I said, ‘You mean this isn’t staged?’”

But KO’ing an untrained prankster was just a momentary diversion. While making personal appearances at combat sports events over the years, he’d struck up a friendship with Mark Coleman, who was the fi rst UFC heavyweight champion and fi rst PRIDE Grand Prix tournament winner. Eventually, he mentioned to Coleman that he’d seen K-1 and he might be interested in trying it one day.

Within a few days, promoters had his phone ringing off the hook. In June 2003, he made his K-1 debut with a knockout win over Yusuke Fujimoto. They next wanted to match him with four-time K-1 Grand Prix champion Ernesto Hoost, a man most consider to be among the greatest kickboxers ever. A friend advised him not to take the bout. “In hindsight, that decision was very correct,” he says with a laugh.

After a few more rounds in the kickboxing ring, Esch was offered the Sudo fi ght, and accepted. Butterbean lost, but knew he’d be back for more. Since then, he’s traveled to Florida to train with the renowned Ricardo Liborio and American Top Team, as well as to Ohio to train with MMA fi ghter Tony Sylvester.

His offi cial record is 11-4, and he holds wins over UFC vet Wes “Cabbage” Correira and PRIDE veterans James “The Colossus” Thompson and Zuluzinho. The popular Sherdog website ranks him as the No. 5 super heavyweight in the world.

“MMA is a hard sport,” he says. “I have a lot of respect for the game. It kind of pisses me off when you have guys like Floyd Mayweather saying it’s not as tough as people think, or it’s bar fi ghting. But American fans have come a long way in learning the sport. They’re smarter than that.”

He adds that one of the best aspects of MMA is that if an athlete fi ghts his hardest and loses, he still gains the fans’ respect. In boxing, so many fi ghters are afraid to lose that they’re more interested in cautiously winning rounds than fi nishing fi ghts. Mixed martial artists know the dangers of ringside scoring, so they’re constantly looking to fi nish.

“MMA fans realize these guys are trying to fi nish, so if you get caught with a punch or a submission, there’s no shame in it,” he says. “So many boxers want to jab and run. MMA fi ghters bring it. If you’re afraid to get hit, don’t get your ass in the ring.”

The 41-year-old does not know how much longer he’ll continue to fi ght. His dream opponent in boxing is Mike Tyson. In the MMA world, he’d love to take on Kimbo, Bob Sapp, or Tank Abbott. But he always stays busy. He recently began a new promotion company, tentatively called Butterbean, Inc., which will host a card February 23 in Biloxi, Mississippi. He also owns a restaurant in his current hometown, Jasper, Alabama, called Mr. Bean’s BBQ. And he has two sons Brandon, 22, and Caleb, 19, that are making dad proud.

Caleb, a senior linebacker at Jasper’s Curry High, had 189 tackles this season and is drawing some recruiting interest. Brandon, meanwhile, just turned pro in MMA.

On a December 1 card at Jasper’s A&A Arena, the three likely became the fi rst father and sons to compete on the same MMA card. Butterbean won his fi ght in 2:46 with a guillotine submission, while Caleb won in two minutes. Brandon needed just thirteen seconds. Both sons won by knockout. Clearly, they are chips off the old block.

Butterbean’s career is a series of fortunate events. He started out as “the fat kid everyone picked on,” and in some ways, nothing has changed much. He still has critics, probably always will. But these days, the fat kid hits back. He hits back hard.

]]>http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-strange-saga-of-eric-butterbean-esch-277/feed/0The Least Intimidating Fighters In MMAhttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-least-intimidating-fighters-in-mma-286/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/the-least-intimidating-fighters-in-mma-286/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000Sam Caplanhttp://www.fightmagazine.comThe inspiration for this article came during a pre-UFC 74 cocktail reception that was hosted by FIGHT! in Las Vegas. I’ve been a fan of Marc Laimon since his instructional segments that used to air during UFC pay-per-view telecasts, and I did a double take when I saw him enter the room. Laimon’s reputation is [...]

]]>The inspiration for this article came during a pre-UFC 74 cocktail reception that was hosted by FIGHT! in Las Vegas. I’ve been a fan of Marc Laimon since his instructional segments that used to air during UFC pay-per-view telecasts, and I did a double take when I saw him enter the room. Laimon’s reputation is certainly a deterrent to tangling with the guy, but his appearance? Not so much.

Strangely, I found him less imposing in person than on television. Even more strange was that I caught myself thinking, “Wow, I think I could actually take this guy.” Then a voice of reason chimed in and said, “Dude, he’d get you on the ground and break your leg worse than Lawrence Taylor did to Joe Theismann during Monday Night Football.”

Right then and there, it dawned on me that the people who truly put the fear of God in me are the ones I would hesitate to mess with based on appearance. It doesn’t take a fi ght fan to know better than to mess with Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, or Andrei Arlovski. If you bumped into them in public, common sense would tell you not to pick a fi ght.

It’s the guy who doesn’t look like he can fi ght, but secretly possesses technical skills, who’s the biggest threat in today’s society. When you think about it, a guy who looks tough isn’t that much of a threat to you. If you were at a concert and some guy you didn’t know that looked like Kimbo Slice bumped into you, forcing you to spill your $12 beer, how far would you go in retaliation? Would you allow the situation to escalate beyond a few unkind words? If you’re not a pro fi ghter and you answered yes to that question, I hope you have good health insurance. But the average human being would not press the issue no matter how disgruntled they were.

Let’s use the same scenario again, but with a Royce Gracie look-alike as the instigator. Just pretend for a second you had no idea who won three of the fi rst UFC tournaments. Now pretend he not only refused to buy you a new beer but also decided to pat your girlfriend on the ass.

Would you run to the nearest bouncer and fi le an incident report, or would you throw a punch? If your answer is the latter, I’m right there with you. But I’d also be right there with you in the emergency room as they tried to reattach your arm to your torso.

With some free time on my hands, I decided to furnish a list of some of the least physically intimidating fi ghters in MMA that could kick our asses.

JOE LAUZON

UFC president Dana White dubbed him the “computer nerd that can kick your ass.” That’s as apt of a description of Lauzon as you can get. Lauzon’s fi ght against Jens Pulver at UFC 54 was the fi rst time I saw him. I won’t lie, one look at Lauzon and I was convinced Pulver was going to destroy him. Lauzon looked like a deer in headlights.

If only we knew then what we know now, we probably could have fetched a ton by taking advantage of the fat underdog odds on Lauzon that were available at the time. Based on his appearance during the fi fth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Lauzon came across as a young guy who is reserved and keeps to himself. Of the footage shown, you’d never have guessed someone as quiet as he is would be as aggressive and tenacious as he is during a fi ght.

KENNY FLORIAN

I recently read a blog that referred to Kenny Florian as a serious looking version of Ben Stiller. That’s pretty dead on. When you see Florian up close, you can tell by the scars on his face and his slight case of caulifl ower ear that he’s been in his fair share of wars.

However, from afar, Florian does not look like a stereotypical fi ghter. He’s one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, so chances are he wouldn’t start trouble with you. But if he did, and you made the mistake of judging a book by its cover, there are a number of ways in which he could make you immediately regret your decision to confront him.

URIJAH FABER

Faber looks like an athlete, but has the appearance of someone you’re more likely to see compete at the X-Games than inside a cage. Faber looks small on television, but he looks even smaller in person.

I was afforded the opportunity to interview Faber and watch him train one November afternoon during a press stop in Philadelphia. The guy is so laid back and non-threatening in person that it’s easy to forget he’s one of the greatest pound-forpound fi ghters alive. But you see him train, and it’s as if someone has fl ipped a switch.

Faber’s relaxed expressions are replaced by an intense look of determination that makes you take notice. He begins to shadow box with a sense of urgency not shown by the average fi ghter. But nothing about Faber is average. Known for his wrestling, I watched Faber as he continued to throw combinations with such velocity that it almost appeared he was fi ghting a ghost.

Faber is too nice a guy to start trouble, but I pity any unsuspecting patron at a bar or a club that would ever have the audacity to get froggy with him, because “The California Kid” would likely put him on his back and proceed to clown said patron.

MARK HOMINICK

His nickname is “The Machine,” and even though he might look like the IT guy at your offi ce who fi xes your computer, that’s not how the nickname was derived.

The guy fi ghts with machine-like precision, and is probably best known for his upset submission victory over Yves Edwards at UFC 58. At the time, Edwards was considered one of the best fi ghters in the world at 155 pounds. Having never before seen Hominick, it was shocking to see Edwards mowed down by a guy who looked like a cancer survivor?

In spite of his gaunt appearance, the London, Ontario native has utilized his razor sharp kickboxing skills and decent submissions en route to a successful fi ve-year MMA career that includes fi ghts in the UFC and the WEC along with a stint as the TKO featherweight champion.

CARLOS CONDIT

Prior to his arrival in the WEC, my only exposure to Condit was through grainy YouTube footage where his facial mannerisms could not be viewed with clarity. I thought perhaps his nickname of “Serial Killer” was bestowed upon him because he shared the same last name as former California congressman Gary Condit (Google search: Chandra Levy).

Condit is one of the most underrated fi ghters in the sport. When you look at him, “killer” is one word that does not come to mind. But as he enters the cage, he looks like a man possessed, and is overtaken by a crazed look in his eye that eliminates any questions about how he got his nickname. However, sans that maniacal scowl, Condit looks like a typical college student who’d only throw a punch if he was at a kegger surrounded by frat buddies.

Obviously, we know that’s not the case, as the WEC welterweight champ has shown no fear going toe-to-toe over the years with the likes of Jake Shields, Carlo Prater, Charuto Verrisimo, Brock Larson, John Alessio, and Frank Trigg.

CLAY GUIDA

Seriously, is there anything more nonthreatening than a guy who looks like Jesus? Let’s say you didn’t have any fear of eternal damnation for taking a swing at a man who looks like a religious icon. You’d be in store for a world of hurt.

Even an atheist would be best served avoiding any sort of confl ict with Guida, who is a strong technical wrestler with one of the biggest motors in the sport. His high-energy approach has allowed him to record victories over Bart Palaszewski, Josh Thomson, and Marcus Aurelio over the span of a four-year pro MMA career that began in July of 2003. We’d also be remiss if we left out the fact that Guida more than held his own against Gilbert Melendez during a Strikeforce show in June of 2006.

CHRIS HORODECKI

The story is that Horodecki’s trainers lied about the 20-yearold’s age when he fi rst started competing professionally at 17. And while he looks young on TV, he looks even younger in person.

After running into him in the restroom at the Continental Airlines Arena during the IFL’s team semifi nals in August, I started to wonder whether people were still lying about his age, because he didn’t look a day older than 16.

I’m just thankful I know who he is and what he’s capable of. How do you explain to your friends that you got tooled by a guy who looks like he’s barely old enough to hold a driver’s license? I can only imagine how the conversation would go. “No, he only looks like he’s 16. He’s really much older than that. He’s actually 20!”

The good thing is that you won’t have to worry about getting into a bar fi ght with Horodecki for the time being, since he’s not legally allowed to drink in the US.

FEDOR EMILIANENKO

Some people are going to have a hard time with this one because if you’ve seen Fedor fi ght once, it’s hard to think of him as anything other than a badass. But pretend you’re at a bar with a buddy who is so ignorant about MMA that he actually thinks groin strikes are still legal.

Now, what if by some chance Fedor came strolling into the bar and you point to him and say to your friend “Look, that’s the most dangerous man in the planet!” Chances are that your statement might be met with a look of skepticism. Fedor by no means looks like a chump, but his demeanor is not one that suggests that he’s one of the most punishing fi ghters in the history of the sport.

]]>Someone broke the fi rst rule of fi ght club, and Din Thomas wound up in jail. On October 31, 2007, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, police arrested Thomas, a 31-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, for holding illegal cage fi ghts in his St. Lucie West training center.

Two weeks earlier, police received an anonymous tip about a so-called fi ght club being held on October 19 at Thomas’ American Top Team gym. Police attended the event, a smoker featuring eight of Thomas’ students, fi ghting in front of friends and family. The offi cers fi led a report stating that Thomas charged approximately 150 spectators $10 each for entry to the unsanctioned amateur event, and had no medical staff on hand.

Thomas’ arrest brought widespread attention to smokers – combat sports’ not-so-dirty, not-so-little, not-so-secret dirty little secret. Unfamiliar to many casual fans, smokers are a longstanding tradition in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and mixed martial arts. These unsanctioned, often illegal fi ghts are organized in gyms or private clubs to give young fi ghters experience in front of a crowd. Most smokers are held without incident, and often feature police offi cers as spectators or participants.

Professional prize fi ghting was illegal in many municipalities in the early to mid 20th century. Loopholes allowed for sparring between members of private clubs for exercise and entertainment, so promoters skirted the law by holding bouts in Eagle and Elk lodges, Knights of Columbus halls, and American Legion posts. Fighters and spectators simply joined the club and bought a ticket; authorities mostly looked the other way. These fi ghts became known for the noxious cloud of tobacco smoke hanging over the crowd.

When Asian martial arts became popular in America after World War II, full-contact karate competitors continued the smoker tradition of their knuckle-bustin’ forebears. Over time, state lawmakers became comfortable with kickboxing, but the brutal elbows and knees of Muay Thai were considered beyond the pale. Until the sport was sanctioned, “guys did gym shows under the radar,” says famed kickboxer and trainer Jeff “Duke” Roufus.

States were hesitant to sanction no-holds-barred bouts in the early to mid-1990s, so cage fi ghters retreated to gyms, warehouses, pole barns, and discreet nightclubs to compete. Even now that the sport has established rigorous safety guidelines and unifi ed rules, states are slow to legitimize it.

According to UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner, 32 states regulate professional MMA and more are coming on board. But the sport is still illegal in some states and unregulated in others. Amateur matches are illegal in many more states, including some that allow pro bouts like California and Florida. These states host as many or more pro fi ghts each year than Nevada does, but offer no structured opportunities to homegrown fi ghters looking for experience before taking on pro competition.

While Thomas says smokers are common in Florida, he never competed in them before turning pro, opting instead to compete in Japanese-style shoot fi ghts. He believes that experience is essential and wants his own fi ghters to be tested in serious competition before jumping on pro cards. Thomas feels that the booming popularity of the sport has resulted in Florida’s professional under cards being fi lled with amateur quality fi ghters. “Guys who have no business fi ghting are ruining themselves early,” says Thomas, “They think they are ready to fi ght and they ain’t.”

Christian Smith was trying to get his fi ghters ready before the California State Athletic Commission stopped him. Smith, the owner of Tribull Mixed Martial Arts in San Jose, was preparing his fi ghters for “Winter Brawl,” a smoker scheduled to take place at his gym on December 15 when he received a cease and desist order from the CSAC.

The trainer was taken off guard; smokers are such a pervasive and permitted component of ringsport culture that gyms promote events on SmokerFights.com. Reigning UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture’s namesake gym in Las Vegas, Xtreme Couture, offers smoker recaps and pictures on its blog. Smith and his students have attended half a dozen smokers in the Bay Area. In fact, both Smith and Thomas held smokers in their gyms without incident before authorities were notifi ed.

Because smokers are such an integral part of fi ght training and negative repercussions from them are so rare, participants see them as no big deal. But boxing and athletic commissions take issue with smokers and other unsanctioned fi ghts because they cannot guarantee that trainers and promoters are working in the best interests of fi ghters in terms of match making, safety precautions, and medical care. But even without offi cial oversight, Thomas and Smith stress that they took care to ensure that the fi ghts were more than simple backyard brawls.

Thomas’ training bouts consisted of three three-minute rounds, and fi ghters used soft training gloves. Elbows and knees to the head were disallowed. When questioned by police, Thomas said he had no paid medical professionals on site. While this is true, there were half a dozen fi refi ghters in the audience, a fi re truck and ambulance parked outside the building, and an EMT (a student of Thomas’) working the door.

This, along with the fact that all the money collected was for a raffl e and that all participants were students of the gym, is why the Florida state attorney’s offi ce announced that it would not fi le formal charges against Thomas.

Now that the CSAC is cracking down on the practice, Tribull’s trainer worries that smokers will just become more secretive and more dangerous. Before, Smith said it was common for smoker participants to receive pre-fi ght physicals, and medical personnel were always on hand. “Now, ringside doctors could lose their licenses to practice medicine by working an unsanctioned event,” Smith says.

Smith and Thomas are left with an uncomfortable dilemma: break the law for the benefi t of their students, or obey the law and risk putting inexperienced students at risk in professional fi ghts. “I would be the fi rst on the bandwagon to pay CSAC to hold a sanctioned event in California,” says Smith. “Unfortunately I can’t.”

Every major sport has a relationship with its amateur corollary, so one would assume that MMA promoters would have had the forethought to establish guidelines for nurturing new talent. But according to Inspector Frank Munoz, the stakeholders who worked with the CSAC to establish regulations for the professional game simply weren’t concerned with the amateur ranks. “Now we gotta go back to the drawing board,” Munoz says.

“What we’re hoping is that there will be a single national governing body,” says Marc Ratner. The UFC’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs has no direct stake in the regulation of amateur fi ghting, but that’s not to say it doesn’t matter to him or his employer. Many still refer to the sport as “ultimate fi ghting,” and bad press about any fi ghter, promoter, or event refl ects negatively on the UFC.

Is it possible then that Ratner would use his prior experience as Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and current clout with the UFC to help speed the process of widespread, consistent amateur sanctioning and regulation? “I will help, maybe not offi cially,” Ratner says. “I think it’s very important to have a structured amateur program.”

But whether this structured program would be administered by state boxing and athletic commissions or by a third party is yet to be decided. USA Boxing has a nationwide charter to sanction and regulate amateur boxing, but no such organization exists to do the same for mixed martial arts. The International Sports Combat Federation, USA Mixed Martial Arts, World Fighting Organization, Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Association, World Mixed Martial Arts Association, and World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts all offer some type of oversight and sanctioning with varying degrees of experience and expertise.

The International Sports Combat Federation, a sister organization to the International Kickboxing Federation, enjoys the broadest and deepest experience of all the MMA sanctioning bodies, and is one of the organizations responsible for sanctioning the sport in Wisconsin, where Duke Roufus trains, manages, and promotes fi ghters. The Milwaukee native sees amateur bouts as an integral part of a fi ghter’s development, as well as a way to give fans more bang for their buck. Roufus’ Gladiator promotion alternates between all-MMA and all-Muay Thai shows, and “we’ll do 10 or 11 amateur fi ghts and 10 or 11 pro fi ghts on the same card,” he says.

In addition to pro/am cards, Ratner says rule changes should be made to ensure that amateur fi ghts are “more of a learning experience.” The Ohio Athletic Commission, one of only a handful of state commissions to handle the regulation of both professional and amateur MMA itself, established safety guidelines that may be adopted by other states in the next few years.

The OAC specifi es that amateur competitors must use six or eight-ounce gloves (shin guards optional) and forbids elbows to the head or body as well as knees and kicks to the head. Amateur fi ghts consist of three three-minute rounds, with 90-second breaks. Fighters must have fi ve recorded bouts to be considered for a professional license. Ratner favors using headgear as well, but ultimately each state must decide what it feels is appropriate.

The International Sports Combat Federation approached the CSAC in summer of 2007 to discuss amateur sanctioning, but Munoz does not expect to see regulations in place until 2009. The Florida State Boxing Commission is working towards amateur sanctioning but spokesperson Sam Farkas says that change must come fi rst through state lawmakers. “I don’t know if it’s on the legislative agenda, but it’s something we’d like to see.” Farkas says.

MMA’s transition from spectacle to sport has been a rapid one, and state bureaucracies have had diffi culty keeping up with it. According to Munoz, California’s professional regulations have been used as a template by other states, and he hopes the same will be true when it fi nally regulates amateur fi ghting. But it’s still anyone’s guess what amateur MMA will look like in 2008, 2010, or beyond.

Until then, Smith and Thomas are left to make decisions about the preparation of their students. Even though no charges were fi led against him, the potential hassles of organizing smokers have turned Thomas away from illicit events. Instead, he hopes the FSBC follows through on its plan to sanction beginner’s bouts so that he is able to produce shows above board. “If they do legalize amateur MMA in Florida, I may be one of the guys who starts an amateur league,” Thomas says.

Smith, though, is undaunted. He doesn’t trust that the CSAC has the sport’s best interests in mind, and will continue to attend and organize smokers until amateur MMA is sanctioned in his home state. “We will be hush-hush about it and invite only a select few that we can trust,” Smith says. A select few who will obey the fi rst rule of fi ght club.

]]>http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/smoker-282/feed/0Smoke and Mirrorshttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/smoke-and-mirrors-287/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/smoke-and-mirrors-287/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000Jason "Mayhem" Millerhttp://www.fightmagazine.comWe have the image burned into our collective consciousness; a muscular guy in a karate uniform striking his toughest pose (named for an animal, of course), his luscious mullet blowing in the wind. If I could go back to the 80s and tug that guy’s headband off, I’d send him packing back to New Jersey [...]

]]>We have the image burned into our collective consciousness; a muscular guy in a karate uniform striking his toughest pose (named for an animal, of course), his luscious mullet blowing in the wind. If I could go back to the 80s and tug that guy’s headband off, I’d send him packing back to New Jersey with his single mother and adopted Asian grandfather who taught him that “waxing off” is an effective method of training for physical combat.

A lot of us can’t shake the idea that martial arts are something magical. Frustrating as it is to someone as short-tempered as I am, there isn’t a whole lot of mystery about why people believe this to be true. Many people are idiots.

That being said, I was once one of those idiots. If someone were to punch at Steven Seagal, Seagal would trap his hand, give him the front fl ip action, and then a swift kick to the neckpiece, while the camera pans up to Segal’s toughest kung-fu face and a guitar squeals really hard.

Meanwhile, in the neon-soaked streets of Hong Kong, Frank Dux is running from Forest Whitaker on little Chinese boats, then fi ghting in the Kumite to avenge his biker friend, which he wins by defeating Bolo with a jump spinning crescent kick. It was SICK.

I was on the trampoline doing super jump spinning crescent kicks until it was dark. I’d have to stop every so often to reset the sensor light before returning to my karate class in the sky. If you were a black belt, you had magic powers, you could glow, and if you knew the magic words (HA-DO-KEN!), you could throw a fi reball. If I could just get my parents to buy me a karate outfi t, and maybe those ninja boots, I’d be set. This was my reality, and with the evidence I had collected through A-Team reruns, Time Cop on VHS, and that story about my friend’s cousin’s karate instructor who had to check his hands with courthouse security staff because they were registered as deadly weapons, I was sold on these ideas. So mystical, so magical.

When you wake up from those dreams, you realize the brutal, ugly, truth. Fighting is ugly. The uglier the style, the more effective it seems to be. No one was making movies about Muay Thai; the knees, elbows, and kicks that entail the art of Muay Thai aren’t exactly the most breathtaking movements, but this ain’t a beauty contest. Muay Thai practitioners had to wait until 2005 to get a badass movie made for them, while we’ve been watching karate movies for decades. Don’t get me wrong, this is good for karate. I’m proud of karate, but its day has passed. Someone wondered what would happen when you asked those fl ashy kickin’, kata practin’, Mortal Kombat watchin’ black belts to fi ght a skinny Brazilian guy. Somehow, the ugly fi ghting Gracie-style opponent (complete with chest hair and pajamas) managed to teabag his opponent to death, even though he won while the other guy was obviously in the lead. I mean, “He had to be winning – he was on top!”

If you think I’m calling my beloved sport ugly, you are wrong. I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is Bruce Lee’s jump spinning back kick beautiful? Yes, absolutely. Is St. Pierre’s transition from the kimura to the arm-lock a thing to behold? Again, yes. Remember ol’ Stevie Segal’s wrist-lock front fl ip? It is lovely, I mean frickin’ beautiful, but ridiculous to the point of banging your head on the fl oor with frustration.

When you put two angry meatheads in the cage pitted against each other, battling for cash and prizes, you start trimming the fat and getting rid of what doesn’t work. You can’t afford to blow it by getting into a deep horse stance and being punted into a coma by a giant shinbone against your snot-box. When you are educated about actual combat and the most effective forms of it, then you begin to see through the fog of mysticism that surrounds martial arts in movies. Thanks to YouTube, everyone knows what a real fi ght looks like, and nine times out of ten (the clip of the karate kid knocking out the Cholo kid excluded), the beautiful methods falter in the face of more contemporary styles of ass-kickery.

Take me for example. I am far from a bronzed Adonis, but I have spent enough time in the gym to look like Schwarzenegger, had I been pumping iron. Instead, what I have done is spent my time sharpening my skills in the most effective forms of martial arts, which are generally regarded as wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and boxing. Just like me, they aren’t the most gorgeous things on earth, but they work a hell of a lot better than overgrown muscles stacked on top of muscles.

Ronnie Coleman’s physique is quite impressive, with his rippling striated deltoids, but I’ll take Matt Linland’s farmer body, or Fedor’s stick of melted butter build in a fi ght. Strong enough to perform the techniques necessary to win, without the pretty excesses that get you laid at a pool party.

Back to mullet-man, standing in a deep horse stance in his American-fl ag parachute pants. He teaches himself, through hours of kata, to use shiny metal weapons bought at the fl ea market to battle off attackers from multiple angles. It looks awesome. The problem with traditional martial arts is that they’re like a bikini model with Down Syndrome. They look great at fi rst, but once you are around for too long, you feel guilty for even being involved. When I was doing my katas, complete with meditation, in the backyard of my family’s government housing, I really believed that my moves would translate to the kids in my neighborhood. The ugly truth was, the only person that my karate worked on was my little sister. I once snap-kicked her in the tooth, making her cry and cutting my foot open – my mom walked into quite a scene. I had to graduate high school with a scab on my foot.

The techniques that worked in the constant fi stfi ghts that plagued my neighborhood in my elementary school years were far from the fl ashy kicks I learned in Tae Kwon Do. Real fi ghting turned into a wrestling match with punches, and kicks were reserved for when one guy got the other laid out on the playground. My dad taught me the “Miller right” – an overhand punch thrown from the waistline that can go right into a headlock throw. It was ugly as sin, but got me into and out of a boatload of trouble for many, many years. Much better than the spin kicks parachute-pants showed me.

But after I had awakened from my karate- fueled stupor that lasted approximately sixteen years, I still fell victim to martial arts mysticism. In my fi rst few fi ghts as a professional fi ghter, I still thought there was some type of magical move I could use to win, complete with a musical score permeating the small armory in southern Georgia. Even though most of my fi ght training at the time consisted of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu’s fl oor fi ghting, I always started the fi ght with a head kick – an obvious remnant of my grade school Tae Kwon Do classes. Once I got over that particular obsession, I began to think that it would be a better idea to attempt fl ying triangles or fl ying arm bars, or jump into a fl ying guard of some sort. In this day and age of ultimate kickboxing, going to your guard is blasphemy, but at the time when Jiu-Jitsu still had it’s special cloud of magic dust fl oating all around it, it seemed like a good idea.

I did fi gure out that there was no secret move choreographed by John Woo that could give me a free pass to stardom; there were just the ugly moves. The ugly hard work of mixed martial arts. Chokes, kicks, and punches that are direct and to the point. No frills or ponytails or armless karate gis to rely on, just the tenacity of an athlete who devotes his life to honing his skills so that he can perform at the highest level on one loud, crazy night, in a loud, crazy arena, to thousands of loud, crazy fans.

Oh, crap. I just fi gured out the beauty of our ugly sport. The beauty is in the athletes’ ability to perform real moves under real pressure. The thousands of hours spent kicking a heavy bag, strangling friends, and punching one another, all for the time to shine on a Saturday night.

Although there are no secret tournaments to fi ght for the chance to win a giant golden dragon, what we do have is the beauty of watching the competitor with the best gameplan and best skills becoming champion on high defi nition television. Now we just need mullets and fl ying triangles to come back in style, and the universe will have come full circle.

]]>http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/smoke-and-mirrors-287/feed/0Maysa Quyhttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/maysa-quy-275/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/maysa-quy-275/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000adminhttp://www.fightmagazine.comThe latest and greatest fi nd for Strikeforce comes in the form of California born and bred Maysa Quy. We chatted with the Vietnamese hottie about the best movie ever made, her favorite band, and…gasp…her boyfriend! So, tell us how you got involved with Strikeforce. It actually started through MySpace. A friend of mine saw [...]

]]>The latest and greatest fi nd for Strikeforce comes in the form of California born and bred Maysa Quy. We chatted with the Vietnamese hottie about the best movie ever made, her favorite band, and…gasp…her boyfriend!

So, tell us how you got involved with Strikeforce.

It actually started through MySpace. A friend of mine saw that Strikeforce was having a contest for their next ring girl, and told me about it. I entered the contest and won. Had my fi rst gig a couple of weeks later…it’s been great.

How long is the deal?

It’s a one year deal. I am also the spokesmodel for FightShop as part of the deal.

Have you always been an MMA fan?

Oh yeah, I used to do Muay Thai and stuff. My boyfriend is really into it too.

Uh oh…you have a man!!!

Yes, yes. We live together and have been together for over two years. He used to train Jiu-Jitsu. A friend of his owns AKA (American Kickboxing Academy).

So what’s next for Maysa?

Well, I’m just looking to fi nish school. I’m a junior at San Jose State, majoring in marketing. Once that is over, we’ll see from there.

What do you do for fun at San Jose State?

I love to dance! I’m a house music junkie, so if there some bumping around, I’ll be shaking it.

Ok, what’s the best movie ever made?

40 Year Old Virgin…with Knocked Up a close second.

Truly a woman after our own hearts. If you said Driving Miss Daisy, the interview was over! Got a favorite band?

]]>http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/maysa-quy-275/feed/0New Bloodhttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-blood-288/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-blood-288/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000Mitch Gogetzhttp://www.fightmagazine.comCAIN VELASQUEZ Name: Cain Velasquez Professional Record: 2-0 Height: 6’2” Weight: 230lbs Discipline: Wrestling Notable Wins: Jesse Fujarczyk Who is Cain Velasquez? Most fans aren’t familiar with Velasquez, who has just two professional fi ghts under his belt. But what he lacks in experience, he makes up for with his ability to adapt and learn [...]

Who is Cain Velasquez? Most fans aren’t familiar with Velasquez, who has just two professional fi ghts under his belt. But what he lacks in experience, he makes up for with his ability to adapt and learn quickly. Coupled with his excellent physical conditioning and wrestling prowess, Cain Velasquez could be the next big thing.

Velasquez trains at American Kickboxing Academy, home to fi ghters such Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, and Jon Fitch. For the last eighteen months, Cain has been refi ning his kickboxing under the tutelage of former world champion Javier Mendez, and been training with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo black belt Dave Camarillo.

Velasquez has been involved in combat sports for the past thirteen years, in his primary discipline of wrestling. Velasquez was a two-time state high school wrestling champion at heavyweight in his home state of Arizona. He was a four-time high school All American wrestler at heavyweight, which included placing all four years at the US Jr. National Wrestling Championships, in both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.

Velasquez’s collegiate wrestling career peaked when he attended Arizona State University his junior and senior years. In both years, Velasquez was named the PAC-10 Wrestler of the Year and PAC-10 Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. He went on to compete in NCAA Wrestling Championships, where he placed fi fth in the heavyweight division his junior year, and fourth his senior year.

After college, Cain shifted his focus to mixed martial arts, and moved to California to train at American Kickboxing Academy. Velasquez made his professional debut on the undercard of Strikeforce – Tank vs. Buentello. With only one month of training, the former Arizona State wrestler defeated Jesse Fujarczyk in less than two minutes. Approximately fi ve weeks later, Cain bested Jeremiah Constant during the second season of BodogFIGHT, utilizing his amazing conditioning to outlast and fi nish his opponent with strikes.

Velasquez was scheduled to fi ght PRIDE veteran Roman Zentsov on a BodogFIGHT pay-per-view last April, but a broken hand forced him to pull out of the match. Now fully healed from his injury, Velasquez is ready to return to action and show the world how quickly he is progressing as a well-rounded fi ghter.

Cain Velasquez recently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and will make his Octagon debut in March. Having been given a great opportunity so in early in his career, Velasquez looks to make an impact in the biggest organization in the US.

Shane Carwin is a monster; quite fi tting of his nickname. This former NCAA Division II National Wrestling Champion is one of the best heavyweight prospects today. A protégé of UFC and PRIDE veteran Ron “H2O” Waterman, Carwin holds an undefeated record of 8-0 and has demolished his previous opponents with a relentlessly aggressive style.

“I’m defi nitely not looking to lay and pray. When I get on top, it’s defi nitely a punishing attack with my ground and pound, and the same thing with throwing knees, elbows, strikes…I tend to smother my guy at all times and not give him time to breath and react,” said Carwin.

The sometimes stagnant heavyweight divisions in MMA need a boost, and Shane Carwin could very well be the answer. The Colorado native recently earned his fi rst professional championship when he impressively defeated UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst to claim the Ring of Fire heavyweight title. It took Carwin just over ninety seconds to dispatch his opponent, fi nishing Pendergarst with strikes.

“It felt great. I put a lot of training and effort [into the fi ght]. To win over a quality opponent in Sherman, and get the belt for Ring of Fire in my fi rst championship opportunity felt awesome,” exclaimed Carwin.

Carwin currently fi ghts out of T’s KO Fight Club, and trains with the likes of former Ring of Fire Featherweight Champion Christian Allen and UFC veteran Nate Marquardt. Under the tutelage of Ron Waterman and boxing coach Trevor Wittman, the newly crowned champion hopes to bring the spotlight back to the heavyweight landscape and make an impact.

“I think people want to see heavyweights that are big, but also athletic,” commented Carwin. “I think I can bring some consistency and athleticism [to the heavyweight division]. I feel I can compete at that top level with those top-tier guys. I’m excited for my chance to get those shots when they come.”

2008 could be a breakout year for Shane Carwin. With so much potential, the sky’s the limit for the Monster. “I want to move into those upper shows and go against some of those top guys, just to see where my game’s at. I thrive on competition and I absolutely love the sport and have a passion for it; I have a passion to be in the cage. Hopefully there’s big things coming for me in 2008, and I’ll be seen in the national spotlight. I defi nitely hope to keep the fi ghts exciting.”

Wagnney Fabiano considers himself as “a strategic, calm, dedicated, and focused fi ghter.” Others consider him one of Canada’s best-kept secrets. The Team Nova Uniao fi ghter is an accomplished grappler, and holds championships in Grappler’s Quest and NAGA tournaments in the US. Fabiano is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Wendell Alexander and Andre Pederneiras. The 32-year old fi ghter was victorious in the 2005 Brazilian Abu Dhabi Trials, a crowning achievement for any grappler.

Fabiano has trained with many talented fi ghters throughout his career, including BJ Penn, Renato “Charuto” Verissimo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, and his younger brother Leo Santos, a renowned grappler in Brazil. “I admire Wendell, Andre Pederneiras and Renzo [Gracie]; I feel they are special people,” says Fabiano.

Wagnney moved from his birthplace of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Toronto, Canada, where he has resided for more than nine years. He made his professional MMA debut in 2000, after four amateur fi ghts and many years of cross-training in boxing and wrestling.

Wagnney signed with APEX Fighting Championship after three professional bouts. In the second fi ght of a long-term contract, Fabiano suffered his fi rst loss to Jeff Curran, via a controversial split decision.

“90% of the people who saw that fi ght felt like the decision was wrong,” explained Fabiano. “He [Curran] even came to my dressing room after the fi ght asking for forgiveness, saying he did not like winning in such a way. I have nothing against Jeff Curran. I’m really not bothered by that fi ght because in my mind I won. Do I want to fi ght him again? I want to fi ght anyone they put in there against me, if it’s him, then so be it.”

APEX Fighting Championship never put on another show after that evening, and Wagnney was left without a promotion to fi ght for. Enter the International Fight League. Wagnney had been an acquaintance of IFL Toronto Raptors coach and former UFC Champion Carlos Newton for nearly half a decade. An opportunity to replace Ivan Menjivar on the team roster presented itself, and Fabiano took advantage of it. Undefeated in the league, Fabiano submitted his last fi ve opponents on his way to become the IFL’s fi rst 145-pound champion.

“To tell you the truth, nothing has changed,” replied Wagnney humbly. “I’m going to have to keep training hard as always. There will always be someone to try and take my title from me. Now I’m going to have to train even harder.”

With his recent impressive performances, Wagnney Fabiano is at the top of his game. 2007 was a great year for the fi ghter, and his potential has likely gotten the attention of larger organizations. However, Fabiano dismisses the possibility of fi ghting for another organization in the near future.

“The WEC and UFC are considered the best events in the world right now, but the IFL isn’t far behind at all. I’m with them now and throughout the year and I’m very happy where I am,” said the IFL Champion graciously. “They treat me very well and put on a world class show. I’m very happy with them and am not thinking about going anywhere else.”

During the off-season, the IFL made many changes. One of the most signifi cant changes was the elimination of Fabiano’s Toronto Raptors team. Fortunately for the Brazilian standout, he was picked up by Renzo Gracie’s Pitbulls, the defending IFL Team Champions. Wagnney Fabiano Santos is expected to return to the ring on April 4, 2008.

“I just want to say that I hope 2008 will be as good as 2007. I will work to make it even better. Thank you for everyone’s support!”

]]>http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/new-blood-288/feed/0Cutmen Explainedhttp://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/cutmen-explained-278/
http://www.fightmagazine.com/mma-magazine/cutmen-explained-278/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000Timothy Mahoneyhttp://www.fightmagazine.comForrest Griffi n’s face was covered with blood, but Jacob “Stitch” Duran didn’t hesitate to start working on a serious cut in the middle of Forrest’s forehead. It was UFC 76; Forrest was in the middle of arguably the biggest fi ght of his career. The cut, courtesy of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s elbow, was threatening [...]

]]>Forrest Griffi n’s face was covered with blood, but Jacob “Stitch” Duran didn’t hesitate to start working on a serious cut in the middle of Forrest’s forehead. It was UFC 76; Forrest was in the middle of arguably the biggest fi ght of his career. The cut, courtesy of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s elbow, was threatening Forrest’s vision and possibly the outcome of the fi ght due to a possible doctor’s stoppage. Stitch worked vigorously yet cautiously on the gash. The bleeding subsided and Forrest was sent out for the third and fi nal round, where he went on to fi nish Shogun with a rear naked choke sealing the victory.

The cutman is an extremely important part of any fi ghter’s corner, especially in mixed martial arts. “In MMA, there is nothing like it,” Stitch said, comparing MMA to other combat sports. “You’re dealing with knees, you’re dealing with elbows, with everything for the most part. Cuts are bigger, more jagged, and in multiples,” Stitch explained. “When I work with [boxer] Vladimir Klitschko, I kinda feel like I’m cheating him, because when he gets cut, it’s a single cut and I can almost do that with my eyes closed now,” Stitch said with a chuckle.

Cutmen bring a wide array of supplies to the ring in order to get the job done. That equipment includes an enswell, a small piece of steel with a handle that is kept on ice, to help stop swelling and decrease the blood fl ow in areas around a cut or bruise. Vaseline is used to help prevent cuts to the face, and is applied by the cutman to a fi ghter before he steps into the ring. Adrenalin chloride (also referred to as epinephrine) is used by cutmen to help decrease blood fl ow. Avitene, a white cotton type substance, coagulates the blood.

“When Forrest got cut between his eyes, he had a real nasty zigzag cut. First, I used the adrenaline chloride, which I applied with pressure to constrict the blood vessels. But to coagulate the blood that was still coming out, I plugged it with avitene, and then covered it with a mixture of adrenaline chloride and Vaseline. Low and behold, I gave him another round and he ended up winning the fi ght,” Stitch said. Cotton swabs are used to apply medicines, and cutmen are required to wear latex medical gloves.

With all the materials cutmen carry with them, organization and preparation is key. “I can make it into the ring and start putting pressure on the fi ghter within fi ve or six seconds after the bell rings. You have to be prepared to eliminate as much time as possible. Seconds are very important,” Stitch stressed. “I am getting my medications ready; I am getting the Vaseline ready, the enswell ready just to expect the worst scenario. The guys that open up the gate for the Octagon are very good with me, they know that I go in fi rst.”

The job of a cutman doesn’t end with stopping blood fl ow or swelling. “From the moment I walk into the dressing room, until the moment the fi ghts are over, we stay very busy,” Stitch said. At weigh-ins or rules meeting, fi ghters are asked if they want their hands wrapped by the cutmen. Cutmen are usually the best at this task, so the majority of fi ghters want them to do it. This keeps many cutmen working hard throughout the night. Many organizations have at least three cutmen on hand at a fi ght. This can help ease some of the pressure cutmen have to deal with, and allows them to concentrate on their tasks.

While the job of a cutmen is stressful, it has it’s rewards. In Forrest Griffi n’s case, the work of his cutman allowed him to go out and fi nish his job. “Those are the things that make our jobs special, right there,” Stitch said. “The respect and admiration they give us is something you can’t go to the store and buy. It is something that you have to earn. The fi ghters want every opportunity to win, and we can help give them that opportunity. That’s what we live for.”